Part. II. OF PR 0 PHET I CA L V IS I 0 N S. A R T C I. E IV. Of prophetical and typical Vifions. 'THESE may be thus diftinguilhed, viz. fuch as were !hewn to Men j/eeping, oc ,waking: To Men aOeep their Dreams have been fent from Heaven. In thefe there is a twofold Difference, fome are mere, or naked Sights or Views, which without Fi– gures, and the Myftery of Types, reprefent deep Things, and future Events: Such was the Dream of Jofeph, Matt. i. 20. and ii. 13. of the Wife Men, Matt. ii. 12. But thefe concern not rhis Head; fome are owpa. r:rvlA{3o:>uY.«., or fuch Dreams, which are hidden or involved in Figures and Types; thefe Dreams came fometimes to Belie·vers, ·fometimes to Unbelievers. To the former Clafs belongs; Fir!t; The Dream of the Patriarch Jacob, Gen. xxviii. I 2, I 3· And he dreamed; and behold, a Ladder Jet upon the Earth, and the '1op of it reached to Heaven ; and be– ~~~if~*~~~~~~~~~~~ above it, and faid, I am the Lord, &c. Certain Interpreters, by reafon of the Anti– type, refer this Vifion to the Patriarch Jacob himftlf, making the Ladder to fignify the Journey of Jacob; the afcending Angels his Keepers when he travelled, and the defcending Angels, when he returned ; they fay, that God ftood on the Top of the Ladder, fince he is the Moderator or Governor of the whole Affair, becaufe by his Pro– vidence Jacob is taken from his Parents, led in his Journey, entertained by hi'• Father– in-law Laban, and led back again. This Interpretation, they fay, is made by God himfelf, Ver. r 5· But Chrift is a more fure Interpreter, who, John i. 5r. makes him– felf the .Antitype of that Vrfion ; Verily, verily, I fay unto you, hereafter yejhall fee Hea– ven opened, and the .Angels of God afcending and defcenaing upon the Son of Man : That is, from Day to Day, ye !hall more and more underftand, that I am he who Is prefi– gured in that Vifion of Jacob's Ladder. That Vifion holds fo,th, r. The ptrfonal Union of two Natures in the MejJiah, which is prefigured by the L adder ftanding upon the Eanh, whofe Top reached Heaven, denoting the Union of the divine and human Nature, by the Symbol of the Ladder touching Heaven and Earth. 2. The Fruits, Benefits, or Rleffings, T& )..•y•, of the incarnate Word, or the Word made Flelh, expreffed by the Ladder's touching Heaven; becaufe through Chrijf, the Afcenfion or Emr•nce into Heaven, is open to all Believers, John iii. 14, 15, 16. and by him only, .Afls iv. 12. As the Patriarch faw but one Ladder; fo the going up and the coming down of the Angel denotes, that they were no longer tb be hurtful \O Mankind, but moft friendly: See Luke ii. 9, q. For they come down as minijfering Spirits for the Help of the Saints, Heb. i. '4· and go up again, carrying their Soul> in19 .Abrahatil's Bofom, Luke xvi. 22. Here is alfo a Bleffing annexed by the Lord, Ver. I4. .And all the Families of the Earth jha/1 be bleJ!ed in thee ; that is, in thy Seed. This is that BlejJing which·comes upon us through Chrij!, Eph. i. 3· Gal. iii. 8, 9· 3· Here is the principal End for which the Land of Canaan was delivered into the :Poifeffion of the Pol\erity of .Abraham and Jacob, viz. that there may be a certain Sear or Habitation for that People, of whom the MejJiah was to be expeCted. Secondly; The double Dream of the Patriarch Jofeph, Gen. xxxvii. 5, &c. which was expounded by Jofcph's Brethren, Ver. 8. and his Father, Ver. IO. very agreeable to the Event of the Thing, as Chap. xli. and the following Chapters. Thirdly; The Dream of Daniel of the four Beafts that came out of the Sea, Dan. vii. 3, &c. which were Types of the four Monarchies of the World, viz. the Babylonian, Perfimt, Grecian, and Roman, &c. · To the latter Clafs belong, r. .. The Dream of Pbara'Oh King of Egypt, Gen. xli. Of the fomteen Cows and the fourteen Ears .of Corn, by which the future State of Egypt, and the neighboring Country, with refpeCI: to Fertility, and the Scarcity of Corn, is prefigured; as Joftph himf~lf expounds it, Chap. xli. 25, &c. and is evidenced by the Event, Ver. 47· 5f, &c. * 3 M 2. The
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